New Cambridge Singers

THE GLORY AND THE DREAM

New Cambridge Singers
director: Christopher Brown

Introduction, Biographies, Track details, Audio files, Reviews

The Glory and The Dream

In 1998 the New Cambridge Singers invited Richard Rodney Bennett to write a major work for choir and organ to celebrate the Millennium. At a time when new music has difficulty finding widespread popular appeal the commissioning of new works for amateur and semi-professional musicians is a vitally important part in the bridge-building process between composers and audiences, but it can place a very heavy financial burden on the often limited resources of the commissioning body. Nevertheless we felt that a composer such as Bennett, who time and again has proved himself adept at tailoring his music to the specific needs of both the occasion and the performers without compromising his own style, would be ideally suited to the sort of work we had in mind, and we determined to press ahead with the difficult process of raising sufficient funds.

It was most a fortunate moment of inspiration to try our luck with the Internet and to post an invitation to other choirs around the world to share in the commission. To our delight and astonishment we were immediately bombarded with enquiries from all corners of the globe. An extended sifting period followed, but in the end we were able to finalise contracts with 15 other choirs from as far afield as Australia, Canada, Iceland, the UK and the USA. This unique use of the Internet for global musical co-operation may perhaps point the way towards a new style of commissioning in the future which can only be of benefit to all parties - composer, publisher and commissioner. Perhaps most important of all more organisations get the opportunity to be involved in the commissioning process, and thereby experience the thrill of being responsible for the creation of new music.

When we received the composer's manuscript we knew immediately that we had struck gold in this innovative venture. The composer has chosen to create an extended unbroken cantata from Wordsworth's Ode "Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood" (omitting stanzas 7 and 8), and has shown magnificently his skill at producing imaginatively original music that is both practical and immediately engaging.